5 Responses to “What size knitting needles are the best for someone just starting out?”

The size of the needle determines the size of the stitch. A stitch worked on size 4 needles may look the same as one worked on size 12 needles, but it will be much smaller.

For someone starting out, I’d suggest US size 8 needles and some smooth worsted weight yarn–wool is good. By smooth, I mean not fun fur, eyelash, or boucle type yarn. It’s too difficult to see your stitches in these types of yarns.

I am teaching someone tonight, and I suggested they get size 8 (metric 5 mm) needles. The size is big enough where you can get a good grip on the needle, and yet not overly huge that with a decent, relatively cheap yarn it looks like you made a net. It’s a good size needle for the worsted weight yarn (the average yarn thickness). I taught my boyfriend on larger needles (US size 13), because it was all I had laying around that I was willing to give up, and even with his large hands he had a hard time handling them.

For your first knitting project choose large diameter yarn to get to your desired result faster.
And my mom always says, that the best needles for a particular yarn are those who has about the same diameter as yarn. And I listen to her advise cuz she’s a real pro. I never look at the number of needles on the stitch cuz I have made sure my moms advice really gives the best result.

If you use nr.12 needles with thin yarn, your stitches will be very large and your craft project will be a disaster.